Chapter 191 Everything Under Control
Seeing that she remained silent, Madam Yang tried to appeal to her family ties: "Sister, you are Bojun's only aunt. You have to help him. If you don't help him, no one else will. Your elder brother and I are both incompetent, and we are struggling to make ends meet. I'm afraid we won't be able to give him a decent wedding."
Upon hearing this, Madam Sun felt a little heavy-hearted, but unusually, she politely declined, saying directly, "Sister-in-law, you don't know, the Earl's mansion is also struggling to make ends meet. Don't be fooled by our current respectable appearance; we are just barely managing to stay afloat."
Seeing that Yang's expression was not good and that she did not believe what she said, she had a lot of unspeakable suffering. Her younger brother had died young, and she only had her brother from her maternal family to rely on. If her brother were still alive, her maternal family would not have fallen to such a state, and she would have another support.
Fortunately, her elder brother and sister-in-law treated her fairly well. The Sun family was in such a state, and her sister-in-law even had a conflict with that little slut Meng Jinyao because of her. She couldn't afford to have any estrangement with her family.
After a while, she added, "Sister-in-law, let me think of a way."
Upon hearing this, Madam Yang immediately beamed with joy: "Oh, my dear sister, Bojun will remember your kindness. If he succeeds in the autumn examination this year and becomes a Jinshi next year and enters the court as an official, our Sun family will gradually prosper. In the future, Bojun can also help his cousin Chengxing. In this way, our two families can support each other and things will eventually get better."
A smile appeared on Madam Sun's face. She had no dowry to rely on, and her children were not yet successful. If her daughter married into a good family, she could help them out, but her daughter's marriage was still undecided.
Her husband had grown tired of her, and the only people she could rely on were her elder brother and sister-in-law from her own family. If her nephew from her family were successful, her life in her husband's family would certainly be good.
She's recently come to realize that men are all fickle and easily bored.
Looking back, Meng Dongyuan loved her so much and even concealed the truth about Zhou's death for her sake. Now, however, he can have a big fight with her because she sold her new favorite concubine, accusing her of being jealous.
She clearly disliked one of Meng Dongyuan's beautiful concubines back then, thinking she was a vixen, and directly found a wrong place to sell her off. Meng Dongyuan even said that he liked the way she was jealous, because jealousy meant that she cared about him.
Everything has changed now. The same thing, the same way of handling it, but the results are completely different.
If Meng Dongyuan knew how that vile woman Du's son died, would he...?
Madam Sun frowned slightly. She dared not think any further, secretly resenting Aunt Du for haunting her every night and keeping her awake.
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Meanwhile, Meng Jinyao and her family of three went to Rongfutang to pay their respects to Old Madam Meng, and then returned home without lingering any longer.
Originally, when Madam Meng learned that her eldest granddaughter had come to pay her respects, she was prepared to give her a good scolding. However, she did not expect to see Gu Jingxi and Gu Xiuming. No matter how dissatisfied she was with her eldest granddaughter for not helping her maternal family, she could not say anything unpleasant.
On the carriage.
Listening to the cacophony of vendors' calls outside, Meng Jinyao lifted the curtain of the car window with one hand and peeked out to look at the various trinkets sold by the street vendors on both sides of the street.
Suddenly, Gu Jingxi's voice rang out beside her: "Madam, were they even worse to you before?"
Meng Jinyao paused for a moment, then lowered the curtain and turned to look at him, gently shaking her head: "Yang has never spoken to me so harshly before. She always suppresses me gently, yet seems to treat me and Meng Jinyu fairly. Anyway, it's just annoying. Of course, that's because I used to be relatively docile, and she didn't have the chance to speak harshly to me."
After all, if she rashly clashed with Madam Yang, she would be the one to suffer, because no one would help her. If her grandmother found out, she would punish her directly, even if she was in the right. Her grandmother could say that she disrespected her elders and deserved to be severely punished.
Her second brother, Chengzhang, would feel sorry for her and would sometimes plead with their grandmother on her behalf after she was punished. However, he would either be punished as well, receive a scolding, or be punished even more severely. So, he stopped pleading for her later, fearing that she would be punished even more harshly.
Gu Jingxi was a little puzzled: "You are no longer the helpless eldest daughter of the Meng family. You are the daughter-in-law of the Gu family. With the Gu family backing you up, shouldn't she be more careful? Why would she come to cause you trouble?"
Meng Jinyao gave a meaningful smile: "She has her reasons for doing this. She may have run into a wall with us today, but she can turn around and get other benefits. Do you believe it?"
Gu Jingxi was taken aback: "What benefits?"
Meng Jinyao chuckled and mocked, "My good stepmother will give her some benefits, enough to compensate for her embarrassment today."
She had noticed this problem before. If Yang could make her suffer, her stepmother would be happy. When she was happy, she would also give benefits to her family. Yang probably understood her stepmother's thoughts and knew that her stepmother did not like her.
Gu Jingxi seemed to be deep in thought.
Meng Jinyao remained calm and composed, saying unhurriedly, "It's alright, take your time, I have plenty of time. Without my mother's dowry to support the Yongchang Marquis's mansion, and with Sun Shi now having no dowry of her own, if she wants to give benefits to her family, she'll have to use the mansion's assets. What do you think my father's reaction will be when he finds out about this?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi retorted, "Madam Sun doesn't seem like a fool. Perhaps she wouldn't do that?"
No, she will.
Meng Jinyao spoke with certainty, a faint smile playing on her lips, and continued, "Now that Madam Sun has no dowry to rely on, and with her beauty fading and love waning, her haggard and listless appearance is nothing short of ghostly. My father's affection for her has also waned, and he no longer visits her room. Meng Chengxing is only twelve years old, and Meng Jinyu's marriage is not yet settled. These two children have not yet grown up to be her support, so why would she abandon her family as her support? Besides, Madam Sun has actually always been quite good to her family."
Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi revealed a knowing expression: "It seems that everything is within Madam's expectations."
Meng Jinyao blinked and said modestly, "I wouldn't say that. I can only say that things are developing in the direction I want. To get a satisfactory result, we still need to push things along from behind the scenes."
Gu Jingxi raised an eyebrow: "So, Madam already has a plan?"
Meng Jinyao nodded frankly: "After seeing Sun's condition today, I have a plan."
Gu Jingxi saw that she had a smile on her lips, her eyebrows were curved, and her brows were full of confidence. She looked like she had everything under control, and the corners of his mouth also turned up.
His young wife was a patient and intelligent woman with her own opinions and clear thinking. However, she was also an insecure girl who would be timid and hesitant when faced with certain situations. She would only dare to test the waters and not take real action, striving to proceed step by step and only acting when she was absolutely certain of success.
After a moment, he said, "Madam, you can do whatever you want. If you fail, I'll still be there for you."
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On a side note, I saw some readers ask, "Is the male lead really impotent?"
The author smiled knowingly: "Could the male lead be incapable?"
It's true that the male lead suffered an injury that left him with a hidden ailment, and it's also true that he will be cured.
The male and female protagonists develop feelings for each other gradually over time. This story is a heartwarming slice-of-life tale where their relationship progresses slowly, from everyday moments to falling in love. The story is actively working to make the male and female protagonists fall in love, and there are already signs of it happening.
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